Cuba’s 1959 revolution happened before I was born. Fidel Castro won,
and ruled the country with an iron fist and steel jaw until a few years
ago, when he handed power over to his brother, Raul.

The country’s been Communist, governed on allegedly Marxist
principles, with the Castros sticking by their faith in total government
even after the Soviet Union collapsed. Their dogged dedication to state
socialism is impressive, in its way.

It’s like, say, watching Thomas Harris’s Hannibal Lecter character on the silver screen. You cannot approve of motive or act, but the sheer fortitude! The evil genius!

A journalist for The Atlanticrecently asked the retired Fidel Castro whether he still thought Cuba’s communism was
exportable. And the old man replied, “The Cuban model doesn’t even work
for us anymore.”

The journalist’s companion, a Latin American scholar, interpreted
this huge admission as recognition that Cuba has too much government.

Should we take a camera, a megaphone and a boat to Michael Moore’s moat and ask him how he feels about this?

The Cuban government provides its citizens with free education,
medical care, and transportation. And not much else. Except state
harassment and arrest for speaking out. And the rationing of food is
pretty stingy. Nearly everybody works for the government nexus.

But hey, many well-educated folks in America have admired the
government. Why? For all those big state projects. Health! Education!
Buses!